Device for regulating the rate of fire in automatic firearms



April 7, 1925.

R. DARNE DEVICE FOR REGULATING THE RATE OF FIRE IN AUTOMATIC FIREARMS Filed June 11. 1924 l atented Apr. 7, 1925.

REGIS Danna, orsr. firmware-Anon, Asszenon .ro ,urr'nnmssrrrnnrs .DARNE, so. E'EIEIJNE, runner, a oesroaarrcnor rear-Jen.

DEVICE FOR REGULUITI'NG TI-IE KATE OF FIRE 'III 'iXUfT OIVLATIC Application filed Ju-ne 11, I924. -Seria1"No. 719,443.

To aZZ whom it may concern: I

Be it known thatL ltiiois Dim-Nu, a citizen of the French Republic, residing at 'St.

Etienne, Department of Loire, France, have invented certain new and useful Improveients in Devices for Regulating the Rate of Fi-re in AutomaticFirearms,of which the fol-lowing is a specification.

The presen invention relates to an 1 improvomentin automatic fire arms, suchas machine guns and automatic --rifles, Witha-ny operating means such-as gas operation or barrel recoil.

The invention consists of a devicerforallowing the-rate of fireto be inoreaseidror decreased without altering theadniissioni-of gas: or the mass of the moving'parts.

. The accompanying drawings: represent by way of example a form of construction for carrying out the invention, l11.jli1S application to a gz-is-operated automatic gun.

Figure 1 is a view inaxial longitudinal section ofthe device, with portionsin elevation. Figure 2 is a corresponding partial view showing another position of the a-moving Figure 3 is atransverse section upon'the line of Figure 1.

v Figure '4: is a horizontal'. section upon the line al of Figure 1.

The movement of the breeol1 b0lt m of the.

gun i. e. the member carrying theiiring pin) is produced in the well:' known manner in one direction bythe admission of a portion of the exploded gases acting upon one end of the bolt (at the left of Figure 1) and in the other direction by the opposing action of the recuperatorspring upon the opposite enl (to the right of Figure 1); the operating devices mentioned are not shown in the drawings.

Jpon this breech bolt m, there is pivoted at m in a central groove m a lever n of which the oscillatory movement around its axis m is limited in one direction by a pin m fixed in the groove m and in the other direction by a lug n upon the lever a coming to bear laterally upon the upper flat surface of the breech bolt (Figure 3).

In the breech casing there is rotatably mounted a spindle 0 upon which is fixed at one side an arm 0 constituting the regulator for the rate of fire; the spindle 0 is cut away or shaped in such a manner as to rocks as its end 41 passes beneath thespindle 0 and. then rises: ne'diately undcr theactionof atl'ong f fiat: spring m looatedtat the bottoinrofithe groove m in the "breechiloolt exerting -pressure at ithe points m m ma.

The positionof. the spindle ois-suchthat a distance of. only zlive to ten millimetres separates it ifronirthe end of the lever m carrying; the; beak 1a-I ,.av=hen the breech bolt to isiatthe' endof-itsreturn strok-esthat islto. say: to-the right inFigure 1,1 the recuperator spring. being: then fully tensioneid.

."fihen the :breech bolt m comes forward again: (towards the leftinllligure 1),1und r theythrust exert-e d; bythe recuperator spring, theilever a ,ca-rriedforward byt-he breech be t' suddenly briugsiits beakjn into-contact with the tootho upon the spindle. O. Of.tl18 regulator. 6 but at. this moment the lever 91 is no longer able to dip as beforebut tends 0111 the'contra-ryto 1 lift up higher and higher owing to the relative. positions; ofits pivotal axis m ;;and yofits; beak minutil arrested byit-s, lugs n :niaking contact with thefiat top of the bolt. Thisrlever nzistherefore compelled to operate thespindleo ofthe lever 0?, causing the latter to :perfornra-n angular rotation around t-he spindie 0 until when the lever has reached the position rep resented in Figure 2,.its teeth 0 allowsthc beak-n of the'lever n to-slippastit. Uponvt1he"arm o thelfe can slide-along a guide bar o a knurled disc 0 carried by a pin 0 the further this disc 0 is moved away from the spindle 0 of the regulator arm 0 the greater has to be the force exerted upon the beak 0 by the lever 11 in order to turn the regulator arm 0 thereby reducing the linear speed of the breech bolt m, so as to give a slower rate of lire. The rate of fire of the gun will therefore depend upon the position of the knurled disc 0" upon the regulator arm 0 If it is desired still further to reduce the rate of firing, there may be arranged upon the gun, one after another, a series of two or more spindles 0, each of which comprises an arm 0 With a regulator disc 0 and each of which spindles is situated in such a way that the lever n after .having slipped past the first spindle 0 comes into engagement with the next, and so on. The mean linear speed of the breech bolt may thus be re-' duced to an extremely low figure.

The lever n, instead of being mounted on the breech bolt m, may evidently be carried by any other working part having a rectilinear or curvilinear stroke during the operation of the gun. This movable supporting member may be constituted either by the breech slide or the like of a. gas-operated automatic fire-arm for example or by 1 the barrel or by any part moving with the barrel in guns operated by recoil.

What I claim is:

1. A device for regulating the rate of fire in automatic fire arms, comprising a. fixed casing, a member having a reciprocating movement in the said casing during the actuation of the fire arm, a spindle rota: tably mounted in the said casing, an arm fixed to said spindle so as to rock therewith, a weighted member mounted upon said arm in an adjustable position relatively to the axis of the rocking spindle so as to regulate the inertia of the said arm, a stopv member carried by the reciprocating member and adapted to come in engagement with the said spindle and to rock the-same and theweighted arm during the movement of the carrier member in one direction, said means allowing of said stop member to slip past the spindle during the movement of the carrier member in the opposite direction, for

the purpose described.

2. A device for'regulating the rate of fire in automatic fire arms, comprising a breech casing, a breech bolt having a reciprocating movement in said breech casing during the actuation of the fire arm, a spindle rotatably mounted in the said breech casing, an arm fixed to said spindle so as to rock therewith, a weighted member mounted upon said arm in an adjustable position relatively to the axis of the rocking spindle so as to regulate the inertia of the said arm,

a stop member carried by the reciprocating breech bolt and adapted to come in engagement with the said spindle and to rock the same and the weighted arm during the movement of the carrier breech bolt on its firing stroke, said means allowing of said stop member to slip past the spindle during the movement of the carrier breechbolt on its return stroke, torthe purpose described. h

3. A device for regulating the rate of fire in automatic fire arms, comprising a breech casing, a breech bolt having areciprocating movement in said breech casing during the actuation of the fire arm, a spindle rotatably mounted in said breech casing, an arm keyed on said spindle so as to rock therewith, a weighted member mounted upon said arm in an adjustable position relatively to the axis or the rocking spindle so as to regulate the inertia of said arm, a tooth provided in said spindle, a groove provided in the breech belt, a lever pivoted in said groove, a beak at one end of said lever, adapted to come in engagement with the tooth of the spindle and to rock the same during the movement of the breech bol on its firing stroke,.a spring member locatedin the groove of the breech bolt and adapted to maintain the said lever beak in its en-- gaging position with thespindle: tooth during the firing stroke of the breech bolt, and adapted to allow of the lever beak-to slip past'the said spindle tooth during thereturn stroke of the breech bolt, and means for limlting the oscillatory movement of the said lever. r

4:. In a device as claimed in claim 1, the.

provision, upon the arm fixed to the rotatable SDlIlCllG of a rude bar secured to said arm and of a weighted disc adapted to slide nners DARNE. 1,. S

\Vitnesses':

FRANCIS B. Monmarr, LEVY MEYER. 

